Qatar : a new model of modernity? -- Qatar : geography of a near frontier -- The origins of Qatar : between ’emergence’ and ’creation’ -- Creating social realities : Qatar and the British in the twentieth century -- Sheikh Khalifa and the enigma of independence -- Sheikh Hamad and the future of Qatar -- Qatar’s political economy : a classic rentier state? -- The emir and the exercise of authority in Qatar.

With the second greatest natural gas resources in the region, Qatar’s economic clout is considerable. At the same time the Qatar story is replete with paradoxes: the state hosts the Al-Jazeera media network, an influential expression of Arab nationalism and anti-Americanism, while also hosting the principal US naval base in the region